“A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness.”

-Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi

In Bereshit, commonly known as the book of Genesis, the first action taken and the first words spoken by Elohim (literally “gods”, not God as usually translated), are “Let there be light! “And, of course,  there was light.

Now it follows that if we are indeed created in the Divine Image, then we can create light too- both the internal kind, by brightening ours or another spirits, and the external kind, by simply lighting a lamp. And as external light sources can affect our inward reality, so too can our inward light impact those around us.

As Reb Schneur Zalman says, it doesn’t take much light to dispel a lot of darkness. A little shining on our part, just a choice to “Let there be light”, can illuminate whole worlds. Because Light trumps Darkness. But only every time.

Where can you bring more light into the world today?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shneur Zalman of Liady (September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812), was an Orthodox Rabbi, and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi, Imperial Russia.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.